Fab freshman: Trey Burton scores six touchdowns in Florida romp

Burton scored a school-record six touchdowns - including five rushing - in the Gators' 48-14 rout of visiting Kentucky. That broke Tebow's record of five touchdowns set against South Carolina in 2007.

It also helped lead the ninth-ranked Gators (4-0, 2-0 SEC) to their 24th consecutive victory over Kentucky and helped coach Urban Meyer become the sixth-fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 100 career victories.

Burton's five touchdown runs broke DeShawn Wynn's freshman record for rushing touchdowns (2003 vs. Florida A&M). He also caught a touchdown pass and nearly threw for another in the fourth quarter, but Omarius Hines stumbled and was knocked down after a 42-yard gain.

That play eventually led to Burton's record-breaking score.

"Six touchdowns - there's a lot of great players that have played in this stadium and to think that he broke some records, that's tremendous," Meyer said.

Tebow accounted for seven touchdowns against South Carolina in 2007. He ran for five and threw for two. Burton scored six TDs, accounting for 36 points.

"[Tebow] is the best football player to ever play college football," Burton said. "It's an honor to be in the same sentence as him."

Burton has been UF's most versatile player, lining up at quarterback, fullback, running back, tight end and wide receiver. He is the only player on the roster to have thrown a pass, caught a pass, and carried the ball.

As if that wasn't enough, he's Florida's backup quarterback and would take over in the event of an injury to starter John Brantley.

Related: John Brantley airs it out in Gators' rout of Kentucky

Burton entered Saturday's game with six rushes for 15 yards and two touchdowns and three catches for seven yards. He had five carries for 40 yards and caught five passes for 37 yards against Kentucky.

His eight touchdowns are five more than running back Mike Gillislee's three - which had led the team entering Saturday night's game.

Photo Gallery: Florida Gators Beat the Kentucky Wildcats 48-14

Burton was a versatile player at Venice Senior High School, where he ran for 494 yards and threw for 772 yards and six touchdowns as a senior. That followed a junior season in which he ran for 1,173 yards and 28 touchdowns and threw for 1,699 yards and 19 scores as a junior.

He enrolled in January and participated in spring practice. He ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 120 yards and another score in the spring game - a preview of his potential as an all-around threat.

"I thought he was a good player when we recruited him," Meyer said. "We had no idea what we had until we figured it out during training camp. The versatility, the intelligence, the competitiveness, those are things you just don't know about until you get your hands on a player."

Burton staked Florida to a 14-0 first-quarter lead with an 11-yard run and an 11-yard completion from Brantley. Cornerback Jeremy Brown returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 21-0 before Kentucky scored a touchdown on a fake field goal.

Related: Gators Notebook: Receiver Andre Debose gets into action

Burton added a 10-yard touchdown run and a 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He had a 3-yard score early in the fourth quarter and capped his night with a 7-yarder to become the first SEC player to score six touchdowns since Auburn running back Carnell Williams did it in 2003.

Burton is just the fourth player in SEC history to score six or more touchdowns in a game.

Burton's performance highlighted an offense that wasn't perfect. There were several penalties, an interception, and some curious play calls, and it bogged down during the second quarter and the first part of the third.

But it was better - especially in the first quarter - and that is an encouraging sign for a team that hasn't been able to find much of a rhythm.

Especially with Saturday's showdown at top-ranked Alabama looming.

Blog: Florida banged up heading into Alabama week

The Gators totaled 466 yards, including a season-high 248 yards passing from Brantley, and scored six offensive touchdowns. It was the best the unit has looked all season after struggling against Miami (Ohio), South Florida and Tennessee.

michael.dirocco@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4500

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